In her new album, Maria Lettberg takes a musical journey through the countries of the European Union. She has curated a selection of piano works, one from each of the respective countries, regardless of period or style. All the major styles of classical music are represented in this collection, from the Renaissance, Baroque and Viennese classical periods to Romanticism, Late Romanticism, Impressionism, 20th-century music, minimalism and neoclassicism. Each piece from the 27 countries has its own fascinating characteristics, and together they paint a multi-layered picture of the European Union.

Sonya Yoncheva has long been fascinated by George Sand. Writer, dramaturg and literary critic, a journalist and an intellectual, the lover of Alfred de Musset and then of Frédéric Chopin as well as being a friend of Franz Liszt, Pauline Viardotand Marie Dorval, and beyond her remarkable destiny as a woman blessed with the ‘glorious and complete independence’ which in her age was reserved solely for men, Sand embodies the entire spirit, the essence even, of the 19th century.

This four-disc, 68-track collection paints a broad definition of the blues, with cuts ranging from vintage country blues (Robert Johnson's “Cross Road Blues,” Son House's “Death Letter Blues”) to uptown jazz blues (Nina Simone's “Blues for My Mama,” Billie Holiday's “Billie’s Blues”), Chicago blues (a live version of “Howling Wolf” by Muddy Waters), British blues (Jeff Beck's “JB’s Blues”), and contemporary acoustic blues (“Am I Wrong” by Keb' Mo'), with plenty of stops in between, making for a random but varied playlist that circles the different approaches and musical definitions of the genre.